When it comes to by-the-book quality blogging, I’m striking out today.  I haven’t posted for several days (strike one), I’m combining three very different things into one post (strike two) and at least one of those three topics has very little to do with this blog’s core purpose (steeeeeeee-rike three).

Then again, maybe someone will find it interesting…

Creative Copy Challenge

Twice a week, Shane Arthur, Sean Platt and David Wright (not the Mets third baseman, though), slap up a blog post with ten randomly selected words.  “In the comment section, you create and submit a cohesive, creative short story tying all the words together.”

I’ve been enjoying the Creative Copy Challenge since I first read about it at Anne (I remembered the “e” on the end this time) Wayman’s blog.  The Challenge is now on its 17th installment, and it’s a great way to get your brain and fingers working in the morning.  For those of us who don’t have a great deal of fiction time built in to our schedules, it’s fantastic.

South African Rappers and a Business Lesson

“Enter the Ninja,” a rap tune from Die Antwoord (Afrikaans for “The Answer”) is a fascinating Internet meme.  Even if you’re not a hip-hop aficionado, it’s hard to stop watching the video which combines DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince sensibilities with a weirdly sung earworm hook from Yo-landi Vi$$er, a trying-but-failing-to-be-menacing rapper and a kid with progeria standing in as a DJ.  It’s beyond weird and it’s lava hot right now.

It’s also more of an intentional performance art thing than it is an authentic bit of “zef.”  If you dig a little bit about those involved, you’ll start to figure that out.  I’m guessing that lack of “real” will eventually snuff the meme, but right now you’d think that these Cape Towners would be piling up the cash.  They’re not.

They haven’t really capitalized on this viral burst and if they want to do so, they’re now racing against the clock.  These things only last so long.   The takeaways from this whole thing is to remember that (a) popularity and income aren’t always related and (b) one should be prepared to capitalize quickly when opportunities present themselves.

Of course, it’s quite possible that Die Antwoord doesn’t really give a rat’s ass about turning a buck.  Nonetheless, it’s amazing how millions of eyeballs are “going to waste” from a more mercenary marketing perspective.  In the meantime, I added Yo-landi Vi$$er as a Facebook friend.

Don’t watch if you’re F-word aversive:

Inglourious Basterdizations

The Oscars are coming and there are a few people out there who seem to think Inglourious Basterds has a shot at taking Best Picture honors, Lawrence O’Donnell included.

Personally, I liked the movie.  I thought it was a surprisingly sly feature that was working on multiple levels simultaneously.  I also appreciate the sheer audacity and effort put forth by Tarantino.  No matter how you feel about him, I think you must appreciate the fact that, unlike so many others, he tries to do something bigger/different/whatever.

A few weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with a friend about how the movie manages to play on some pretty ugly Jewish stereotypes while simultaneously serving as a Holocaust revenge tale.  That’s just one of the thousands of points to ponder, aside from Tarantino’s foot fetish and love for genre mash-ups.

Is the movie a straight up revenge flick or is it trying to make us uncomfortable with our willingness to embrace violence that serves our own ends?  A full-throated justification for the War on Terror or a blistering indict?  Is the re-writing of history just a crazy, gutsy attention-seeking ploy or is it really a nose-thumbing to Reifenstahl’s Tiefland 50/60 years after the fact?  Was Brad Pitt’s strangely comic Aldo the Apache an intentionally bad performance or a masterwork?

If you want to think about Ingloroious Basterds, there’s a lot to keep you busy.

However, I also think that much of the thought provocation is accidental.

I wonder how much that matters.  I’m not just talking about Basterds, either.  It’s just a convenient excuse to look at the bigger issue of how we interact and interpret the value of any art form.  Do we give credit for spurring discussion and thinking even when it may not have been the intention of the artifact’s creator to do so?  What if the auteur did intend to create a kerfuffle, but didn’t necessarily produce more than a moving Rorschach blot?  Is there a responsibility to provoke for a reason, or is flipping the apple cart and end of its own?  If it is, does a good flip deserve our highest accolades?